tagged w/ Russia
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The New York Times...
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February 29, 2012
North Koreans Agree to Freeze Nuclear Work; U.S. to Give Aid
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and CHOE SANG-HUN
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PHOTO:
Korean Central News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Kim Jong-un met with soldiers from the Korean People’s Army in southwestern North Korea in February.
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WASHINGTON — North Korea announced on Wednesday that it would suspend its nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. The surprise announcement raised the possibility of ending a diplomatic impasse that has allowed the country’s nuclear program to continue for years without international oversight.
The Obama administration called the steps “important, if limited.” But the announcement seemed to signal that North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, is at least willing to consider a return to negotiations and to engage with the United States, which pledged in exchange to ship tons of food aid to the isolated, impoverished nation.
A freeze on nuclear activity, if it holds, could significantly ease anxieties over North Korea’s behavior at a time when the Obama administration, in an election year, is focused on halting Iran’s nuclear program and reducing the possibility that Israel could attack Iran. The last significant effort to negotiate a dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons collapsed in the waning weeks of George W. Bush’s presidency more than three years ago.
The United States and other nations have been watching closely to see whether Mr. Kim’s rise to power late last year after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, would result in a change in North Korean behavior. The signals have been mixed. Only days ago, Mr. Kim delivered a bellicose speech suggesting that he could resort to military actions against South Korea as he consolidated his power.
North Korea also agreed to a moratorium on test launchings of long-range missiles, which have in the past inflamed tensions in the region. But joint statements by the State Department and North Korea’s official news agency gave no indication of when substantive negotiations over the country’s nuclear program — involving the United States and North Korea, along with Russia, China, Japan and South Korea — might begin again.
North Korea must first arrange with the International Atomic Energy Agency to send its nuclear inspectors, a process that officials said could raise new obstacles and take some time. And senior administration officials cautioned that North Korea still had to show its sincerity before broader discussions could resume. “We’ve made clear that we’re not interested in talks just for the sake and the form of talks,” a State Department official said.
North Korea has agreed in the past to halt its nuclear efforts, only to back out and then return to the table before breaking off talks once more with a flurry of accusations against the United States. The North Korean statement appeared to leave wiggle room for doing so again, saying the country would carry out the agreement only “as long as talks proceed fruitfully.”
“The United States, I will be quick to add, still has profound concerns,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said when she announced the agreement at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday. “But on the occasion of Kim Jong-il’s death, I said that it is our hope that the new leadership will choose to guide their nation onto the path of peace by living up to its obligations. Today’s announcement represents a modest first step in the right direction.”
Officials and analysts offered different theories about why Mr. Kim’s government’s would agree now to allow inspectors to return, but most said it could prove to be a significant concession. After years of negotiations, North Korea expelled inspectors and went on to test nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009. American intelligence officials believe that the country has enough fuel for six to eight weapons, but the progress of its newly disclosed uranium-enrichment program at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, conducted without international scrutiny, remains unclear.
Victor Cha, a senior analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the agreement announced Wednesday differed little from previous ones that had failed to produce breakthroughs, but that it was nonetheless significant because the return of inspectors could shed light on the country’s nuclear progress.
“We haven’t had any eyes on this program for over five years now,” Mr. Cha said in a telephone interview from South Korea’s capital, Seoul. Some analysts and officials said the agreement might signal that the young and inexperienced Mr. Kim had consolidated power and had the backing of his country’s military.
Although administration officials said it was too soon to draw conclusions about Mr. Kim’s intentions, they said there was no doubt that he had directly authorized his negotiators to reach the deal, which the United States first offered in talks last July. An agreement appeared close during a second round of talks, but then the elder Mr. Kim died.
Two days of talks in Beijing last week between American and North Korean negotiators, as well as the Chinese, initially appeared to have produced few concrete results. But after the North Koreans returned home, the country’s leaders unexpectedly and rapidly responded. “This was very much in motion before the leadership transition,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington, who called the agreement a welcome step.
Other analysts said the agreement allowed Mr. Kim to demonstrate his command and to use his early months in power to improve people’s lives after years of food shortages and a devastating famine. “It helps him show to his people that he is a leader who can deal with the Americans and bring back some practical benefits, namely the food aid,” said Kim Yong-hyun, an analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul.
As part of the agreement, the United States said it would send 240,000 metric tons (about 265,000 tons) of food, though it limited the aid to nutritional supplements, rather than the rice and grains that, as two administration officials said, has in previous instances been diverted by the government or the military, or even sold abroad.
The aid is expected to be delivered in monthly shipments of 20,000 metric tons over the next year. The United States also insisted on rigorous monitoring to ensure that the aid would be provided to the neediest, especially women and children, many of whom show the stunting effects of chronic malnutrition. In its statement, the State Department said that in exchange, the United States was “prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality” and to allow cultural, educational and sports exchanges with North Korea.
The State Department official cautioned that the agreements “merely unlock the door” to a resumption of negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program. “We can’t allow the same patterns of the past to repeat themselves,” the official added. “We can’t allow wasting arguments on topics that are irrelevant to the main challenges we face. And that’s simply going to take a long time to work out.”
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Steven Lee Myers reported from Washington, and Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul, South Korea. Mark Landler contributed reporting from Washington.
.The New York Times...
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February 29, 2012
North Koreans Agree to Freeze... more
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A massive plume of thick, black smoke billowed from the Syrian city of Homs Wednesday, punctuating the chaos that has plagued the opposition stronghold for months.
According to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition activist group, government war planes flew over Homs and blew up an oil pipeline.
But Syrian state-run TV blamed a "terrorist group" for the assault.
Under the opaque cloud of smoke, sounds of sustained attacks -- including artillery fire and automatic machine gunfire -- echoed through the city of 1 million people, CNN's Arwa Damon reported from inside Homs Wednesday.
Opposition activists say government forces are set on flattening every neighborhood that might hold dissidents calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Three bodies were recovered from Idlib province; a 16-year-old student was killed by gunfire in Daraa province; and another person was killed in Aleppo, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
And military forces stormed the city of Hama, where explosions rattled two neighborhoods, the group said. The Observatory said landlines, cell phone communication and Internet access in Hama were cut off.
While residents across Syria grappled with the turmoil, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said al-Assad has set a date of February 26 for a referendum on a draft constitution.
Members of a committee tasked with drafting the document "reiterated their keenness on a constitution that allows ... public freedoms and political plurality in a way to lay the foundation for a new stage that will enrich Syria's cultural history," SANA reported.
Al-Assad has previously said Syria planned to hold a constitutional referendum, but reports of bloodshed at the hands of his regime have only intensified since his statement.
Meanwhile, after repeated U.N. failures to formally denounce the Syrian government, the latest U.N. draft resolution condemning Syria could go for a vote in the General Assembly as early as Wednesday.
Though a General Assembly vote would not be binding, it would mark the strongest U.N. statement yet on the violence. Russia and China have vetoed attempts to condemn Syria for the crackdown by the U.N. Security Council, whose resolutions are binding.
The draft resolution calls on Syria to end human-rights violations and attacks against civilians immediately, and condemns "all violence, irrespective of where it comes from."
But any U.N. action is long overdue, say opposition activists, who reported 49 deaths across Syria on Tuesday. The dead included three Syrian soldiers who defected, the LCC said.
Deaths took place in Idlib, Homs, Daraa, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Hama, Damascus, the Damascus suburbs and Latakia, the group said.
Bracing for war in Syria
Child rescued from crossfire in Syria
Increased intelligence activity in Syria
UN to vote on new Syria resolution
Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said Monday most of the wounded avoid going to public hospitals for fear of being arrested or tortured. Instead, they are being treated in underground hospitals where hygiene and sterilization conditions are rudimentary and medical supplies are scarce, she said.
Pillay denounced the Syrian government's "ongoing onslaught" against its citizens.
"The nature and scale of abuses committed by Syrian forces indicates that crimes against humanity are likely to have been committed since March 2011," Pillay said.
Syria posted a banner on state TV Tuesday saying its Foreign Affairs Ministry "absolutely rejects all the new allegations in the new report by the human rights high commissioner."
The Syrian regime has consistently blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the violence in Syria.
"What is happening has nothing to do with reforms, with the spread of democracy. This is the work of armed terrorist groups that are being funded from outside," said Syria's ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, according to Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency.
He added: "Damascus will not let international peacekeepers into the country. Syria does not need peacekeepers. Syria has categorically dismissed that option."
More at the linkA massive plume of thick, black smoke billowed from the Syrian city of Homs Wednesday,... more
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A Russian space engineer has received a 13-year jail sentence on charges of passing secret strategic missile data to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in return for cash.
Russia's FSB security service said test engineer Vladimir Nesterets from the northern Plesetsk cosmodrome admitted receiving payments for information about "tests on Russia's latest strategic missile systems."
The security service refused to specify the types of systems involved in the case or the size of the payments.
But analysts called the apparent security breach a significant blow for Russia because its armed forces use the north-western site to test and launch every type of missile in production and development today.
"This is the Russian strategic missile forces' main launch site," independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said.
"All current mobile systems and their warheads are launched from and tested at Plesetsk."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-11/russian-jailed-for-passing-missile-data-to-cia/3824510A Russian space engineer has received a 13-year jail sentence on charges of passing... more
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Another week, and yet another collection of irresponsibly oversimplified news stories from the past seven days. Feel free to click all those news links I hid amongst the poems. It'll be like an easter egg hunt, except the easter eggs are Japanese poetry and the stuff inside is knowledge. Tasty, delicious knowledge...
Link: http://itslonelyuphere.blogspot.com/2012/02/haiku-news-24-210.htmlAnother week, and yet another collection of irresponsibly oversimplified news stories... more
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KevJ
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Despite the Arab League observers’ report verifying the threat that the Free Syrian Army (or the “Free Army” (FA) as critics prefer to call it in reference to the fact that many of the organisation’s members are of non-Syrian origin) the European Union responded to the clearly defensive military operation by threatening further sanctions against the Syrian people. Predictably, the NATO and GCC media, in perfect unison with the warmongering stance of their states, published unsubstantiated claims from unverifiable sources that the Syrian government was committing a massacre against Homs’ civilian population. Arab League observers in Syria Ahmed Manaï in Tunisian publication Nawaat where he stressed that the same media who accused the government of a massacre of 200 in Homs on February 4th (the day of the vote on the United Nations Security Council Resolution that if passed would have paved the way for military intervention in Syria) “were making fun of our intelligence”. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/recent-news/43059-how-russias-support-for-syria-is-qdefending-the-whole-world-from-fascismq-
video ----- Now we will see a service in which NATO propaganda (Al Jazeera) accuses the Syrian Army, of killing the Syrian child Sari Saoud. In the service, Al Jazeera shows the mother crying, while she embraces her child. Then you'll see the interview released by the very same woman, who reveals that the baby was not killed by the Army, but by the very same entities that the Army is fighting.Despite the Arab League observers’ report verifying the threat that the Free... more
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worrg
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What to wear to protest with style? Some Russian designers have been using the street protests as an opportunity to promote their fashion ideas, teaching the country’s politically-minded fashion lovers to clearly show their political views.
“Attending mass protests has become the latest trend, no doubt about it,” says designer Aleksandr Arutyunov, the creator of Russia’s first online source on fashion and street protests.
In his blog, the Georgian-born designer, who has shown off his pret-a-porter collections in Russia and overseas including at London Fashion Week, has also promised to demonstrate what it is that unites fashion and revolution.
Arutyunov has so far shared his ideas on what to wear so that your clothing will clearly reveal your political views.
For instance, the designer sees supporters of the United Russia Party dressed to impress, with Rolex watches and Pierre Cardin furs in the limelight, with the dominant color being blue.
He suggests that those who back Just Russia’s social democratic party should wear dark-brownish colors by modest brands.
Right Cause advocates could opt for grey colors by high-end brands.
Those in favor of Yabloko are advised to wear green, sticking to ‘casual chic’ style.
Admirers of the Communist Party needn’t rack their brains looking for what to wear. Go for the red, suggests Arutyunov. It’s a winning combination.
http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/protests-trend-fashion-rolex-825/What to wear to protest with style? Some Russian designers have been using the street... more
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UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria collapsed in acrimony with a double veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the deadliest government assault in the nearly 11-month uprising.
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2012/02/russia-and-china-veto-syria-resolution/UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in... more
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Their inspiration for a style of resistance never before seen in Russia, was the riot grrrl punk movement, including groups like Kathleen Hanna’s Bikini Kill, and flash mobs. The young women of the collective, average age 25, have revealed only the smallest details about their lives. None will divulge their day jobs. They only use first-names. In the two weeks since their mid-January action, the all-female group has become a potent symbol of anger at the status quo in Russian society and their videos have gone viral all over the world. Like many young people in Russia, the members of the Pussy Riot collective are furious at Vladamir Putin’s plans to seek the presidency again and his return was the impetus behind the formation of the group (as well as their song “Putin Has Pissed Himself”). http://www.freeturbine.com/index.php/news/general-music-news/item/pussy-riot-revolt-in-russia-putin-s-got-scaredTheir inspiration for a style of resistance never before seen in Russia, was the riot... more
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worrg
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Palestinians have every right for membership in international organizations.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority could count on Moscow’s support on this matter and that Russia would continue its effort to restart the stuttering Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Churkin urged Israel to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip and halt its settlement activity on the West Bank. He also voiced alarm over the recent arrest by the Israeli military of a number of Palestinian officials.Palestinians have every right for membership in international organizations.... more
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Police in the Kaliningrad region have mistaken a marathon for a gay pride parade.
Several athletes gathered in the town center of Sovetsk on Saturday for the run, but were approached by police, who detained some of them, including teenagers.
Police later explained they had been falsely tipped-off about a planned but illegal gay pride march in the town.
Organizing pride parades has long been a big problem among activists in Russia’s gay community.
In Moscow, they have been unsuccessfully applying for permission to hold a parade for several years – with former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov branding them "satanic" on one occasion.
With Luzhkov replaced by Sergey Sobyanin, the LGBT community hoped for change, but the new mayor deemed such events in the capital to be “unnecessary.”
The bans have always been warmly supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, with its officials supporting what they say is the authorities' right to ban any propaganda based on its potential moral damage to the people.
In July 2011, Russia paid 30,000 euros in compensation to gay activists over its decision to ban so-called pride marches.
The fine was issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the decision to repeatedly ban gay pride parades in 2006, 2007 and 2008 was unlawful.Police in the Kaliningrad region have mistaken a marathon for a gay pride parade.... more
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A former UK government official has revealed to the BBC that Britain was caught spying on Russia when a fake rock discovered in Moscow was found to be hiding electronic equipment.
Russian authorities accused the UK of spying on their country in 2006 but the claims had never been acknowledged publicly by the UK before now.
The story was first featured on Russian TV but has resurfaced thanks to a BBC documentary featuring former chief of staff to Tony Blair, Jonathan Powell.
Commenting on the discovery, Powell said that it had been ‘embarrassing’ but that Russia ‘had us bang to rights.’
The full story of the fake rock is told in Putin, Russia and the West, showing Thursday 19th January at 9pm on BBC Two.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16614209A former UK government official has revealed to the BBC that Britain was caught spying... more
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An electromagnetic pulse from a US radar station in the Pacific is being investigated as a possible cause in the malfunctioning of the Russian Phobos-Grunt martian probe.
What began as an ambitious space mission to bring back samples from one of Mars’ moons, Phobos, has instead turned into an earthly detective story to determine the culprit behind the failed launch.
A government commission inquiring into the performance of the probe, which returned to earth on Sunday, will test whether it was affected by US radars on its second orbit around Earth.
Led by Yuri Koptev – a former head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos – the commission announced on Tuesday that it would stage an experiment, where a model Phobos will be subjected to radiation similar to that from US radars.
Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin has said that that the malfunction of the spacecraft could have been caused by “interference from a foreign technical facility.”
“Experts do not dismiss the possibility that the probe could have accidentally come under the impact of emissions [from a US radar stationed on the Marshall Islands], whose megawatt impulse triggered the malfunctioning of on-board electronics,” Kommersant, the business daily, said on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source in the Russian space industry.
The source also explained Roscosmos was examining other possible explanations, including the trajectory of an asteroid at the time of the Phobos-Grunt launch.
The failed mission was more likely due to an accident than to a determined act of sabotage, the Kommersant source added.
Did HAARP play a part?
Although not specifically mentioned by the Russian investigation team, any investigation into radar bringing down a space probe would have to include the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) observatory, established in 1993.
The HAARP research station, located in Gakona, Alaska, is a hotbed of conspiracy theorizing. On this US Air Force-owned piece of real estate researchers periodically conduct high-energy experiments on the ionosphere, a layer of charged particles that extends up to 1,000 kilometers above the Earth.
“Whereas similar radar facilities exist in Norway, Russia, Peru and other locations, HAARP is one of the most powerful,” according to a recent report in Scientific American. “Its Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) puts out a maximum of 3.6 megawatts sending signals at 2.8 to 10 MHz – powerful enough heat up a small (on a global scale) but measurable part of the ionosphere.”
The conspiracy theorists, however, say the facility is up to pure mischief.
Former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, for example, questioned whether the government is using the site to play havoc with the weather or to bombard people with "mind-controlling radio waves."
Located in a remote, forested area of Alaska, HAARP consists of 180 antennas that occupy a rectangle of about 33 acres (13 hectares).
Investigators are also considering a short circuit, as well as “external impact” with an asteroid as possible other explanations for the failed mission. They are expected to inform the Roscosmos head of the preliminary results on January 20
The official conclusion is to be announced on January 26, Kommersant says.
“The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radar’s impact,” Koptev says.
The mystery over the fall of the Phobos-Grunt has sparked the curiosity of not only the Russian space community, but also that of the country’s leading politicians.
Reset or relaunch?
The mystery over the fall of the Phobos-Grunt has sparked the curiosity of not only the Russian space community, but also that of the country’s leading politicians. Indeed, the crash of the Phobos-Grunt probe appears to be the latest irritant in Russia-US efforts at a political reset.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin does not rule out the possibility that the launch of the Martian probe could have failed as a result of US radar impact.
“This theory has a right to exist," he told reporters on Tuesday.
Earlier, Rogozin vowed he would personally oversee the enquiry.
“I am taking the investigation into the reasons for the Phobos-Grunt failure under personal control,” said Rogozin, who had been Russia’s envoy to NATO prior to his appointment to the current post last December.
Some Russian observers are quietly leaning towards the conclusion that the United States, in a desperate attempt to cling to its superpower status – both on earth and in outer space – is willing to conduct acts of sabotage to do so.
This opinion is reinforced by the fact that the US space industry, which witnessed its final space shuttle mission in July, 2011, is now forced to rely on Russian launches to maintain its presence on the International Space Station. This is certainly a blow to Washington's pride and prestige at a time when the condition of the US economy, combined with the astronomical cost of military adventures abroad, preclude further investment in space exploration.
In light of these factors, it is reasonable that to expect that some individuals in Russia should suspect US involvement in the failed Mars mission, at least until proven otherwise.
There had been high expectations from Russia’s space community that Phobos-Grunt, launched on November 9, would bring back rock and soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos. However, the probe’s rocket engines failed to put it on course for Mars, and it fell into the Pacific on Sunday.
Russian efforts to reach the elusive Red Planet have been riddled with failure. In 1996, Russia lost its Mars-96 orbiter during launch.
http://rt.com/politics/russia-mars-probe-accident-us-radar-967/An electromagnetic pulse from a US radar station in the Pacific is being investigated... more
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FROM AVAAZ
'This is hard to report, but Avaaz’s own members are being tortured by Syria’s monstrous regime. Manhal* reports that he was held in a secret prison where they pulled out his fingernails and toenails and electrocuted his body parts. "I have seen death, and I’ve been tortured nearly to death," he's told us. But if we act now, we can make Manhal's sacrifice the last straw that turns the whole world against the Assad regime.
The Arab League’s observers have failed to stop the brutal crackdown, but pressure on Assad is mounting. Avaaz has just released a terrifying report revealing the scale of Syria’s detention facilities, including what they did to Manhal. If we build a massive global outcry now, we can force key governments to confront the horrors in this report and accelerate the end of Assad.
Sign the petition right now, and when we reach 500,000 signatures we’ll deliver it along with Avaaz’s report to the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council, demanding they refer Assad to the International Criminal Court to be tried for crimes against humanity:'
'http://www.avaaz.org/en/arrest_syrias_torturers_/?vlFROM AVAAZ
'This is hard to report, but Avaaz’s own members are being... more
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LOrion
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Mr. Cohen clarifies the events in Russia in recent weeks. Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about that old cold war sleepy country.Mr. Cohen clarifies the events in Russia in recent weeks. Just when you thought you... more
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Predictions are always problematic – there’s that pesky notion of “free will,” [.pdf] not to mention the stubborn refusal of reality to conform to our preconceptions.
1) War with Iran – One could argue we are already at war with Iran, what with US support for the terrorist Jundallah – a Sunni extremist group with links to al-Qaeda – which is attacking Iranian civilians and wreaking havoc in Iranian Baluchistan. Also, the sanctions we have imposed on Iran are, in themselves, acts of war – and we’ve seen how Iran is responding with threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, which a great deal of the world’s oil must pass through.
In line with my theory of “libertarian realism” – the idea that domestic political considerations determine a nation’s actions on the international stage – I’ll note that the number one force pushing for war with Iran is the indefatigable Israel lobby, which has been beating the war drums for years now and has the full support of both parties in Congress. Sure, the American people don’t want war – but since when have they had any say in our foreign policy?
Click source for predictions 2-6
7) The only antiwar presidential candidate will be continuously smeared, demonized, and eventually driven out of the GOP by the party Establishment – If Ron Paul even comes close to winning Iowa, he will have everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him by a grand alliance of neocons, Obama cultists, and Beltway fake-“libertarians.”
First they’ll blame the weather, then they’ll blame the “fanaticism” of Paul’s army of volunteers, and finally they’ll blame the voters, who are supposedly so poisoned by “resentment” that they must be declared officially mad. Delegates won fair and square will encounter “problems” with their credentials.
Gloria Borger will team up with a famous psychic to divine who really authored the infamous newsletters, and fresh non-scandals will be unearthed by enterprising “journalists.” In the end, a coalition of neocons and Romneyites will issue an encyclical, excommunicating Paul and his supporters from the Republican party – and opening the way for a third party bid that will threaten to put the GOP nominee in third in November.
Probability: 95%Predictions are always problematic – there’s that pesky notion of... more
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You may have heard how a portion of the Soyuz-2 rocket destroyed some poor guy's house in Siberia. That wasn't the only shenanigan Soyuz debris pulled last weekend. A portion of the Soyuz rocket that transported three astronauts to the International Space Station flared up the skies over Germany, Belgium, and France on Christmas Eve, leading confused observers to assume that Santa Claus had fed his reindeers napalm.
http://io9.com/5871116/this-is-either-rocket-debris-lighting-up-the-sky-or-santa-spontaneously-combustingYou may have heard how a portion of the Soyuz-2 rocket destroyed some poor guy's... more
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Artist Nina Nikiforova lives not far from the Black Sea shore and runs a small art gallery. Some critics might call Nina’s art complete rubbish – and they would be totally right. Everything in her gallery is made from litter.Artist Nina Nikiforova lives not far from the Black Sea shore and runs a small art... more
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The chief political strategist at the Kremlin has condemned recent protests, saying demonstrators are seeking a revolution by taking cues from academic Gene Sharp.
In an interview with Izvestia magazine, Vladislav Surkov said: "There are those who want to turn the protests into a color revolution - that is for sure. They are acting by the book, following ... new revolutionary methods.”
Surkov went on to say he believed that demonstrators were being instructed from abroad and that they were following a formulated plan, very similar to that detailed by Gene Sharp in his book From Dictatorship to Democracy.
Surkov’s comments come as protests look set to continue across Russia on Saturday 24th December – activity that he believes will bring turbulence to the country, though he dismissed any concerns around the demonstrations. "The future is not a calm place, but it's not worth it to be afraid," he said. "Turbulence, even strong turbulence is not a catastrophe, it is an [expression of] different kinds of stability."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/us-russia-kremlin-idUSTRE7BM0J020111223The chief political strategist at the Kremlin has condemned recent protests, saying... more
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The control system that has dominated humanity for centuries if not millenia has essentially started World War 3 and it is imperative that all Americans stand up in the coming days against this threat of thermonuclear war. This threat has the chance to fulfill the agenda of the Malthusian-minded control group and greatly reduce the worlds population in a short amount of time.
Relations have been strained between the United States and key governments in recent months. The United States and Pakistan have had quite the falling out since the ‘Wag The Dog’-style psy-op faked assassination of Osama Bin Laden within Pakistani borders. Since the Rothschild-funded NATO took over Libya in a bloody coup, CIA-funded Al-Qaeda rebels have launched campaigns to destabilize Libya’s neighbor Syria.
Iran has recently shot down a US stealth drone, which was at first disavowed by US military then confirmed. Iran has also been performing drills practicing closing the Strait of Hormuz, and has threatened to close it if attacked. As Paul Joseph Watson reports, “closing the Strait for a period of just 30 days would send crude racing up to $300-$500 dollars a barrel, a level that would trigger global economic instability and cost the U.S. nearly $75 billion in GDP.” Iran is now also being implicated with 9/11 somehow.
Last month Russia issued warnings against the United States disrupting key strategic allies of Russia. They have put their radar stations on alert and are preparing to counter the European Missile Defense System which looks possible. Since, the CIA has backed and instigated colored revolutions in Russia protesting Vladimir Putin, and simultaneously promoted a Bilderberg candidate Prokhorov to challenge Putin for the top Russian political office next year.
The United States and China have been involved in a defacto currency war for a few years now, with China still dishing out the jabs and the US Dollar still taking the hits.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has recently expressed fears about global unrest due to the pending breakup of the EU and eurozones. But this cannot be blamed on Europe alone. Rodney Shakespeare, Professor of Binary Economics in London, recently said the following in an interview: “Yes , at the moment the Americans have tended to be blaming the Europeans, but of course, the Americans are just as much part of this collapsing fraudulent system as the Europeans, but he is quite right… I think that Europe is going to collapse, and when, for example, the bonds etc are defaulted, that is going to hit the derivatives, commitments of the American banks and is going to be big, big trouble. If you look at it, if only a tiny percentage of the derivatives go wrong, three or four percents of the total might be equivalent to nearly the same as the world’s GDP… It is signifying something, not only awareness of the overall connections, but of course what is also happening, is America in particular… is going for war as a means of hiding the whole thing up. The Americans want to blame Europe, and then when the blame comes back to them, then they’ll be going to war, that is the underlying reason, why they are heating up the tension at this moment and of course it can easily get completely out of hand.”
The control system knows exactly what it is doing, and they know full well that Americans will do everything in their power to protest this unfavorable war. In response, the Goldman Sachs-ran Obama Administration has pushed for the indefinite detention of American citizens without due process which has been legalized under the recent National Defense Authorization Act.
40 members of Congress have sent an urgent letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders protesting provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act that would legalize indefinite detention of American citizens without trial.
“The Senate-passed version of the NDAA, S. 1867, contains Section 1031, which authorizes indefinite military detention of suspected terrorists without protecting U.S. citizens’ right to trial. We are deeply concerned that this provision could undermine the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth amendment rights of U.S. citizens who might be subjects of detention or prosecution by the military,” states the letter.
It is imperative that Americans in the United States realize that our US Constitution and Bill of Rights, the documents that establish the basis for our country, have been completely shredded in the last few years, starting with the dangerously overreaching Patriot Act and continuing with the passage of the Homeland Security Act, this recent National Defense Authorization Act and all similar legislation. It also needs to be clear that World War 3 is being pushed down humanity’s throat. Due to these threats to our liberties, freedoms, and future, the magnitude of peaceful meaningful protests will need to be larger than anything humanity has seen in our history.
I implore all Americans that read this to share this article wherever they can to inform others. Start talking to people in your neighborhoods and communities. Forming small groups is the start. From there, you can join up with other groups to form strong coalitions in your cities and counties. Through consistent grassroots mobilization, we can progressively address larger political issues and force politicians and elected representatives to listen to the people once again.
We must continue to unify all peoples around the world to keep the pressure on the control system and the banking cartel-run governments like Italy and Greece. Only with continued peaceful demonstrations will we be able to counter the threat of World War. This is a very good development. OccupyWallStreet joining forces with the African American faith based community is a tremendous idea and very deserving of support. Rather than have minorities in urban areas instigated into riots and looting as the MI6 did in the UK earlier this year, this move allows all colors and creeds to come together in solidarity against the Federal Reserve and international banking cartel that is ruining everyone’s future.
The control system will try to counter this ultimate unification of peoples using every technique in the book. They will try to incite age old racial issues. They will try to keep people in the left/right paradigm and at each other’s throats instead of coming together with fists in the air. They will punish us through higher prices on goods, utilities, and services that will create further strain within our families and communities. We must be cognizant of this, and continue to work with our families and neighbors to fight the negativity they will push, the negativity that the control system thrives upon.
If protests against World War 3 aren’t large enough, it raises the possibility that the US government will use recently activated and staffed FEMA camps to detain and intern anti-war activists and protesters.
more at
http://pacificprogress.us/2011/12/18/americans-must-stop-world-war-3-now-or-face-extinction/The control system that has dominated humanity for centuries if not millenia has... more
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